Appointments:
GSK Chair in Oncology Research, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Associate Professor, Discipline of Oncology; Cross Appointed with Bioscience of Health and Disease; BHCRI Assistant Scientific Director, Newfoundland
Affiliations:
Adjunct Professor, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY USA
Research Interests:
epigenetics, genomics, bioinformatics, head and neck cancer, KRAB-ZNF proteins
The Epigenomics of Head and Neck Cancer
Epigenetic regulation of genes is an emerging frontier of science that directs many functional processes in development as well as in disease states. One such disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a devastating group of cancers arising from oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx and nasopharynx. Tumours originating from these different locations can exhibit varying aggressive behaviour that is not necessarily predictable by the characteristics of the original primary tumour. My lab is interested specifically in a group of genes coding for KRAB-ZNF proteins that are known to be epigenetically silenced at a high frequency in head and neck cancers as well as in other solid tumours.
What brought you to your current institution? I was recruited to Memorial University from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York for the GSK Chair in Oncology Research within the Discipline of Oncology.
Hometown: Jerseyside, NL
Why are you interested in your area of research? Genomics in cancer research offers a unique opportunity to build molecular signatures of disease that can allow for more personalized approaches to treatment. It also offers the opportunity to discover novel genes that play a role in cancer progression.
Learn more about my research: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BowWBcIAAAAJ&hl=en
Follow me on Twitter @TomBelbin
Involvement with BHCRI to date:
I have been an Associate member of BHCRI since 2017. I have served on the Scientific Review Committee for the Cancer Research Training Program (CRTP) Traineeship Awards. One of my graduate students has been the recipient of a CRTP award.